ROOhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/roo
en-usFri, 09 Dec 2016 10:42:59 -0500Fri, 09 Dec 2016 10:42:59 -0500The latest news on ROO from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/3/roo-group-backers-bet-on-face-recognition-softwareRoo Group Backers Bet On Face Recognition Softwarehttp://www.businessinsider.com/2008/3/roo-group-backers-bet-on-face-recognition-software
Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:10:00 -0400Dan Frommer
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=47e8082f796c7a91005d5e1e&amp;maxX=319&amp;maxY=239" border="0" alt="face-tracker.jpg" title="face-tracker.jpg" width="319" height="239" /></p><p>KIT Capital, the Dubai-based company that's taken a stake in Internet TV firm ROO Group (RGRP), is also <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&amp;STORY=/www/story/03-24-2008/0004778839&amp;EDATE=">investing an undisclosed amount in NY-based Viewdle</a>, a video search company whose software recognizes faces in video.</p>
<p>Since launching last September, Viewdle has toyed with consumer-facing products like a "name widget" that shows videos of people you write about on your Web site, and an <a href="http://www.viewdle.tv/election/index.html">election tracker</a> (snapshot below) that keeps track of how much face time presidential candidates get on TV. Next up: More widgets, a business-to-business offering, and "ultimately," a "search destination site" for "personal media and consumer video."</p>
<p>As part of the deal, Roo Group gets a full license to Viewdle's software, and the companies will cross-sell each others' services. And Viewdle gets a new board member: <a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/12/when_last_we_checked_in">Roo CEO and KIT Capital managing director Kaleil Isaza Tuzman</a>, perhaps most famous for his starring role in the 2001 dot-bomb documentary <a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0256408/">Startup.com</a>.</p>
<p>Roo's shares are trading around 7.5 cents, down about 98% from their 52-week high of $3.19. The company reports Q4 earnings next Monday, March 31.</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=47e8083b796c7a91005d5e20" border="0" alt="campaign-tracker.jpg" title="campaign-tracker.jpg" width="538" height="276" /></p>
<p><strong>See Also:</strong> <a href="../../2008/3/roo_takes_cover_in_dubai">Roo Leaves The Alley, Takes Cover In Dubai</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/3/roo-group-backers-bet-on-face-recognition-software#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/3/roo-takes-cover-in-dubaiRoo Leaves The Alley, Takes Cover In Dubaihttp://www.businessinsider.com/2008/3/roo-takes-cover-in-dubai
Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:56:00 -0400Michael Learmonth
<p><img class="float_left" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=47dec4cc14b9b9b00066d06b&amp;maxX=100&amp;maxY=48" border="0" alt="roologo.gif" title="roologo.gif" width="100" height="48" /></p><p><a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/7/mysterious_roo_">Cash-burning</a> video distributor Roo Group is <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080317/nym040.html?.v=101">pulling up</a> roots in New York and relocating to Dubai. The company completed its acquisition of Australian digital marketing firm Sputnik, whose managing director Gavin Champion will be president of the company, reporting to CEO <a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/12/when_last_we_checked_in">Kaleil Isaza Tuzman</a>.</p>
<p>Roo says moving to Dubai makes sense because 85% of its revenues come from outside North America. The move is the next step in a restructuring that began last month when the company laid off a fifth of its workforce (40 workers) and its independent directors resigned over alleged "improper payments" to senior management. In February, Roo acquired the assets of <a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/7/mysterious_roo_">Wurld Media</a>.</p>
<p>Roo Group (RGRP) shares have dropped from a peak of $4.08 in February of last year to $0.09 in Monday afternoon trading.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/3/roo-takes-cover-in-dubai#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/2007/12/when-last-we-checked-inRoo Group's New Boss: DotBomb Veteranhttp://www.businessinsider.com/2007/12/when-last-we-checked-in
Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:32:33 -0500Peter Kafka
<form contenteditable="false" mt:asset-id="599" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><img alt="kaleil.jpg" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=47a93a484b5437725e763f&amp;maxX=199&amp;maxY=157" class="mt-image-right" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px; float: right;" height="157" width="199" /></form>When last we checked in on the <a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/07/mysterious-roo-.html">ROO Group</a> (RGRP.OB), the "online video solutions company" had big ambitions, a big burn rate, and not a lot else. Things don't seem to have improved much. In the last day:<br /><ul><li>The company has canned 40 people (about a fifth of its workforce); <br /></li><li>the independent directors have resigned while making allegations that included "improper payments" being made to senior management; and<br /></li><li>the CEO left. <br /></li></ul>It's been a bad December: Early this month a <a href="http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=645283&amp;category=BUSINESS&amp;newsdate=12/7/2007">newspaper story</a> pointed out that one of Roo's executives was recently indicted for felony grand larceny and money laundering.<br /><br />PaidContent has had nice <a href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-four-board-members-resign-at-video-aggregator-roo/">coverage</a> of all of this, including the <a href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-roo-new-ceo-named-21-percent-of-staff-laid-off/">appointment of a new CEO</a>: Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, formerly COO of JumpTV. Silicon Alley veterans, and some moviegoers, may recognize Kaleil from a former life: He was once CEO of govWorks, an Alley startup whose rise and fall was documented in the excellent movie Startup.Com.<br /><br />Not surprisingly, Roo's <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071219/nyw043.html?.v=101">press release</a> doesn't mention Kaleil's old job: govWorks may not have bombed any worse than a thousand other bubble era startups, but it was the only one that had pro filmmakers recording it. And Kaleil, who was all of 28 or so during that time, didn't come off terribly well. You can get a taste by watching the preview <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256408/trailers-screenplay-E14783-310">here</a>. Sadly the movie itself is hard to find and is inexplicably not available on Netflix.<br /><br />No need to roast Kaleil for his past failure--who doesn't have some egg on their face from Bubble 1.0? (And his <a href="http://www.kaleil.com/">web site</a> touting his "Entrepreneur's Success Kit" does mention the company and the movie, though in a glowing light). Hopefully he learned some lessons from the experience. He'll need them at Roo.<br /><br /><b>Related:</b> <a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/07/mysterious-roo-.html">Mysterious Roo Group Buys Wurld Media</a><br /><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2007/12/when-last-we-checked-in#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/2007/8/roo-group-rgrp-ROO Group (RGRP) Grows Q2 Revenue But Loses More $http://www.businessinsider.com/2007/8/roo-group-rgrp-
Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:22:13 -0400Henry Blodget
<p><a onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank', 'width=150,height=72,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false" href="http://alleyinsider.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/08/21/roo.gif"><img width="100" height="48" border="0" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=47a93c4f4b5437725f9b2c&amp;maxX=100&amp;maxY=48" title="Roo" alt="Roo" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; float: left;" /></a>New York's ROO Group (RGRP.OB) <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070821/nytu036a.html?.v=3">reported Q2 results</a>.&nbsp; Revenue jumped 78%, from $2.0 million to $3.6 million, but expenses increased an even faster 87%.&nbsp; Losses more than doubled: from $3.2 million to $7.3 million.&nbsp; The company had $24 million of cash remaining at the end of the quarter, but is burning it fast.</p>
<p>On a positive note, ROO is gradually clarifying its mission.&nbsp; The company now divides its business into two segments: <strong>Online Digital Media</strong> (which provides web development, site management, and back-end support for video distribution), and <strong>Advertising Agency</strong> (which provides a wide range of media and communications consulting services).&nbsp; </p>
<p>Online Digital Media revenue<a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/e/070820/rgrp.ob10qsb.html"> grew from $900,000 to $2.2 million</a>, in part because of an acquisition, and is considered the company's primary business segment.&nbsp; Advertising Agency revenue grew from $1.1 million to $1.3 million, but has been flat for the past six months.</p>
<p>If ROO wishes to emerge from the anonymity of the pink sheets, it needs to sharpen its focus by selling off the Advertising Agency business and clarifying the mission of the Online Digital Media business.&nbsp; The company currently has a $44 million market cap.&nbsp; Its stock trades at $1.</p>
<p><strong>See Also:</strong> <a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/07/mysterious-roo-.html">Mysterious ROO Group Buys Assets of Wurld Media</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2007/8/roo-group-rgrp-#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/2007/7/mysterious-roo-Mysterious ROO Group Buys Assets of Wurld Mediahttp://www.businessinsider.com/2007/7/mysterious-roo-
Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:42:51 -0400Henry Blodget
<p><img width="100" height="48" border="0" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=47a93d064b5437725fa35b&amp;maxX=100&amp;maxY=48" title="Roo" alt="Roo" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; float: left;" /></p><p>
Public online video company <a href="http://www.roo.com/">ROO Group</a> (RGRP.OB) <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070719/nyth056.html?.v=89">announced</a> that it had finished buying the assets of Saratoga Springs-based Wurld Media.&nbsp; ROO describes itself as &quot;the online video solutions company focused on meeting
the specific needs of large enterprise companies globally&quot; and &quot;the Internet broadcast company of choice for companies
seeking effective strategies for monetizing online video.&quot;&nbsp; If so, its global brand-recognition strategy is apparently not yet complete.&nbsp; The Wurld Media assets, which ROO bought for about $4 million, will apparently provide some P2P streaming capabilities.</p>
<p>Some backstory: Roo <a href="http://www.roo.com/news/NewsItem.aspx?ItemId=58">announced in January</a>
that News Corp. had taken &quot;up to&quot; a 5% equity stake in the company and
had the ability to tack on another 5% via warrants. At the time, the
deal was reportedly worth $12 million, but there was a bit of <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/01/29/news-corp-shuns-fox-interactive-group-in-roo-deal/">confusion</a> about what it actually <a href="http://valleywag.com/tech/rumorbusting/the-roo-controversy-that-wasnt-232494.php">meant.</a>
Wurld, meanwhile, was one of several companies trying to find a way to
make money via P2P platforms, but never convinced consumers to
participate. Its biggest accomplishment may have been a deal announced
in late 2005 to help NBC Universal distribute some of its content; the
announcement drew dutiful press coverage but it's unclear whatever
became of the arrangement, if anything.</p>
<p>ROO<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=RGRP.OB&amp;annual"> lost $14 million</a> last year on $10 million of revenue.&nbsp; According to its latest balance sheet, it had $6 million of cash as of March 31--which, at the Q1 burn rate, would have lasted approximately 3 months.&nbsp; The company has a $63 million market cap.</p>
<p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2007/7/mysterious-roo-#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>